A weekend with the Mouse

Posted on September 21, 2023 by dinajohnston

Brett and I drove over to Disney (not to a theme park though) in early June for a one night road trip for our 29th Anniversary. After checking into our hotel we headed over to Disney Springs to walk around a little bit and have an early dinner. I’ve only been here in the winter and it was so hot even at 5pm. After walking around for a half hour we decided to go ahead and eat early and then head back to the hotel.

Our hotel was nearby (not a Disney hotel) and we could see the fireworks from the theme parks in the distance. A nice little storm moved through at the same time and we got a great lightning show from our window.

A quick video of the fireworks (on the left) from the Magic Kingdom and the storm (on the right).

After a quick breakfast at the hotel we headed to the Disney golf course. Brett was going to play a round of golf and I was driving the golf cart (I’m not a golfer, maybe some day though but it’s fun being out and driving the course), This Mickey cart was out front at the clubhouse. It was so cute (the carts everyone uses looks like a regular cart).

There was a little bit of color along the course.

We saw a lot of raccoons along the course and they come right up to the carts. We had caught up with some guys playing ahead of us and they told us that people are feeding them. One guy said he came back to his cart from the hole and a raccoon was up in his cart digging through his snack bag. There are signs warning not to feed the wildlife but no one seems to listen anymore.

It was a beautiful morning out on the course and after a big lunch we headed back home. It was a perfect quick getaway.

An all day walk at Disney

Posted on December 9, 2021 by dinajohnston

Last year we did not make it for our annual lunch at Disney Springs so this year we couldn’t miss it. We knew it would be crazy crowded (and it was later in the day) so we got there early to walk around before lunch.The above statues are made out of Leggos and there’s always a line to get in that store.

All of Disney was decorated for Christmas this week.

After lunch we decided to try something different. We didn’t want to go to a theme park but instead hopped on a bus to a hotel and then rode the monorail to several of the nice hotels to walk around and look at the holiday decorations at each one. I didn’t really notice the decorations at the Polynesian Resort but I thought this statue above was really cool and it had beautiful orchids all around it.

We could see the Grand Floridian across the lake and decided this would be our next stop on the monorail ride.

The lobby at the Grand Floridian was beautiful. They have a large lifesize house made out of gingerbread and candy. The details were incredible. There were people standing in the back of the house selling gingerbread cookies. That’s how big it was.

All of the details at this hotel are perfect. Down to the wreaths hanging in the lobby.

We headed back to our car at Disney Springs and stopped at a french pastry shop to get some desserts to take home.

After a long day of walking around, we got back into Tampa as the sun was going down behind the buildings downtown. My sister snapped this with my phone. I love the reflection on the hood.

Not happening this year

Posted on December 22, 2020 by dinajohnston

These are some of the shots from last year’s Thanksgiving weekend visit to Disney Springs. It was our 3rd annual lunch at the Springs with my sisters and we had a perfect day last year. This year we all did what we were suppose to do and stayed at home. They didn’t get to come visit this year so next year we’ll have to make up for lost time.

Above are some of the Christmas trees we saw around town last year including the manatee statue waving in front of the tree.

I hope everyone is having a good Christmas in spite of the things that are going on. Are you staying at home instead of visiting relatives? If it’s warm Brett and I might spend the day at the beach (if it’s not closed) just to get outside. Although, even if it’s cold we might still go. Nothing like a long walk on the beach all bundled up when it’s cold. Below are some old pictures I found of my family being bundled on the beach. The first is from the early 70’s of my mom and two sisters walking on Clearwater beach. The 2nd was more recent (early 90’s) of my sister and I goofing around on the the beach. Both were on Christmas day.

Merry Christmas from Disney Springs

Posted on December 24, 2018 by dinajohnston

Thanksgiving weekend my sisters and I headed over to Disney Springs to have an early lunch and walk around. Disney Springs is a shopping and dining area with activities and events. It’s basically a Disney park without rides and you don’t have to pay to get in. We got there early in the morning and left early in the afternoon. By the time we left it was so crowded you could barely walk. It was a fun way to get into the Christmas spirit.

I realized later that you could see my reflection in the window and my sister standing next to me.

We stopped at the bakery on the way out to get deserts to take home.

Merry Christmas to everyone and thanks for stopping by my blog during the year!

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

Mickey says “Merry Christmas”

Posted on December 25, 2017 by dinajohnston

I spent the rainy day after Thanksgiving at Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) with my sisters who were visiting for the week. We ate lunch at one of the restaurants there and then walked around for a while peeking in the shops and soaking up the Disney “Holiday style” fun. It was drizzling when we first got there but stopped after we ate lunch. The dark clouds stayed all morning.

Our World Tuesday Graphic image-in-ing: weekly photo linkup

It wouldn’t be November without a trip to Disney

Posted on November 24, 2016 by dinajohnston

We always wait until school is back in and the weather has cooled off a little bit. Instead of going to a Disney theme park this year, we decided to spend a few hours at Disney Springs (formerly known as Downtown Disney). It’s almost as big as a theme park but without the rides. It’s a shopping and dining theme park. We got there Saturday afternoon and spend a few hours walking around, looking in a few shops and people watching. We had a great Italian dinner and then headed back to our hotel. It was extremely crowded but fun. I was traveling light so I took all of these pictures with my Iphone.

The Christmas decorations were just starting to go up. The little details are amazing.

The sky was beautiful as the sun was going down. Yes, that’s a car floating in the lake. You can get in a car that drives down the driveway and then floats into the lake.

Just one of the amazing deserts that you could buy in one of the many bakeries.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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